Follow JPL

Kepler One Step Closer to Launch

In the mobile service tower on Launch pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the upper part of the metal transportation canister is removed from around NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Image credit: NASA

NASA's Kepler spacecraft was successfully mated to its rocket in preparation for a March 5 launch. Kepler will survey more than 100,000 stars in our galaxy for signs of Earth-size planets, including those that lie in a star's "habitable zone," a region where liquid water, and perhaps life, could exist.